Bard's Tale: Tales of the Unknown — stories left

Cranford stated that most of the game design was based on his and Fargo's Dungeons & Dragons gaming experiences.

Cranford stated that they used a consultant during game development who suggested various ideas, including the city name Skara Brae, which was also used in Ultima IV—a surprise discovery after that game's release due to the consultant's work on Ultima IV as well.

Cranford said he later apologized to Fargo after learning that the attorney who had represented him had misrepresented several other cases to his clients and had apparently misled him into assuming the worst.

Cranford, Fargo, and Heineman have all since stated that they hold no grudges against each other over something that occurred when they were in their early twenties.

In 1993 she criticized the game's starting difficulty and single save location, but stated that it had "many points of interest, particularly in the puzzles, and is definitely a game worth getting".

The game was reviewed in 1986 in Dragon #116 by Hartley and Pattie Lesser in "The Role of Computers" column.

Calling the Commodore 64 version wondrous, Compute!'s Gazette in 1986 stated that while the game's plot and gameplay did not vary from the norm, "its depth of concept and brilliance of execution" did.

Compute! in 1987 called the Apple IIGS version "unquestionably the most graphically stunning product I have seen on any Apple computer".

CRASH said that "the Skara Brae environment is so complex and involves so many different factors that it's hard not to get completely enthralled in your quest" and rated it at 86%.

Macworld reviewed the Macintosh version of The Bard's Tale, praising the music and gameplay, calling it a "Nice combination of problem solving, combat, and exploration", but criticizing the monochrome graphics and repetitive gameplay, the latter largely directed towards frequent combat.

When reviewing its sequel in 1988, Ahoy!'s AmigaUser described The Bard's Tale as "the all-time classic".

In 1990 the game received the seventh-highest number of votes in a survey of readers' "All-Time Favorites".

Michael Cranford, however, stated that an Electronic Arts agent they worked with had come up with the city name (Skara Brae, named after a real-life settlement in prehistoric Orkney) and the game's title, The Bard's Tale (from originally: Tale of the Scarlet Bard), and that The Destiny Knight was never going to be called The Archmage's Tale.

Dragon Wars, made by the same developer, was originally built as the 4th title in The Bard's Tale series. The rights to the name could not be used, so 1 months before release the title was changed to Dragon Wars, and dragons, which had not appeared at all until then, were worked into the story.

The Bard's Tale was originally going to be named Shadow Snare and was announced as a successor to Cranford's earlier game Maze Master which was published by Human Engineered Software in 1983.

Michael Cranford, however, stated that an Electronic Arts agent they worked with had come up with the city name (Skara Brae, named after a real-life settlement in prehistoric Orkney) and the game's title, The Bard's Tale (from originally: Tale of the Scarlet Bard), and that The Destiny Knight was never going to be called The Archmage's Tale.

What was originally going to be The Bard's Tale IV became an unrelated game called Dragon Wars (1989) at a very late point in its development process, due to rights issues after developer Interplay parted ways with publisher Electronic Arts.

Dragon Wars, made by the same developer, was originally built as the 4th title in The Bard's Tale series. The rights to the name could not be used, so 1 months before release the title was changed to Dragon Wars, and dragons, which had not appeared at all until then, were worked into the story.

CRASH said that "the Skara Brae environment is so complex and involves so many different factors that it's hard not to get completely enthralled in your quest" and rated it at 86%.

The Commodore 64 version of The Bard's Tale was given a 'Sizzler' award and rated at 94% by Zzap!64 magazine, in the 1986 Christmas Special edition.

It was the first non-Wizardry computer role-playing game to challenge the Ultima series' sales, especially to Commodore 64 users who could not play Wizardry (a Commodore version did not appear until 1987, with inferior graphics to that of The Bard's Tale).

In 2003, Brian Fargo (who created maps for the first two Bard's Tale games and directed the third) left Interplay Entertainment and began a new game development company named InXile Entertainment.

In 2004, they released their first game, also titled The Bard's Tale, an unrelated, console-style, top-down, action RPG which pokes fun at traditional, fantasy, and role-playing game tropes as in those found throughout the original Bard's Tale.

In 1993 she criticized the game's starting difficulty and single save location, but stated that it had "many points of interest, particularly in the puzzles, and is definitely a game worth getting".

Macworld reviewed the Macintosh version of The Bard's Tale, praising the music and gameplay, calling it a "Nice combination of problem solving, combat, and exploration", but criticizing the monochrome graphics and repetitive gameplay, the latter largely directed towards frequent combat.

In 1993 she criticized the game's starting difficulty and single save location, but stated that it had "many points of interest, particularly in the puzzles, and is definitely a game worth getting".

Michael Cranford, however, stated that an Electronic Arts agent they worked with had come up with the city name (Skara Brae, named after a real-life settlement in prehistoric Orkney) and the game's title, The Bard's Tale (from originally: Tale of the Scarlet Bard), and that The Destiny Knight was never going to be called The Archmage's Tale.

What was originally going to be The Bard's Tale IV became an unrelated game called Dragon Wars (1989) at a very late point in its development process, due to rights issues after developer Interplay parted ways with publisher Electronic Arts.